Bill Moore, third-year apprentice lineman, wears rubber sleeves that cover from the wrist to the shoulder, topped with thick rubber gloves and leather gloves on top of that. These three layers protect against electrocution, but make working outside very hot. (THE COURIER / Joshua Mashon)

Editor's note — This story is part of a series about hot jobs around the Arkansas River Valley,

Does going to work in a wetsuit sound exciting and maybe even glamorous?

Ask any linemen who works for Entergy, and they will tell you the wetsuits they work in are the opposite of glamorous.

“The safety gear linemen wear is extremely hot,” Bruce Tucker, customer service manager for Entergy, said of the “hot” job linemen do. “In these hot conditions, it is even hotter. It makes the temperature outside seem almost unbearable.”

Linemen wear rubber sleeves that cover from the wrist to the shoulder, topped with thick rubber gloves and leather gloves on top of that — three layers to protect against electrocution.

Tucker said the men typically stop every 5-10 minutes to pour out sweat from their gloves ... kind of giving new meaning to the phrase “sweating buckets.”

Tucker said safety is a priority throughout the year and during the summer months, extra time is spent covering heat-related injury and illness at monthly safety meetings.

Entergy provides water and Gatorade to the staff and each employee is certified in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Tucker said the crews are told to observe one another for heat-related symptoms, such as disorientation, dizziness or if someone stops sweating, and to take a 10-minute break every hour.

“We tell them to stay hydrated and I always reiterate that hydration doesn’t start today. It started yesterday,” Tucker said of the added precautions taken by the company in the summer months. “We tell them to maintain hydration during the weekend, too. They are taught to assess one another periodically for heat exhaustion, and they all know to take breaks and even come to the office to cool off if they need to.”

Tucker said one employee did come in the office to cool off Thursday afternoon.

People typically think of linemen and Entergy personnel working extra hours during the winter months to combat downed lines and utility poles, but few think of how hard his staff works during the summer months, Tucker said.

During the summer months, especially any day the temperature exceeds 100 degrees, the utility company’s electrical power lines experience added stress, which can lead to power failures, he said.

“Electric utility companies have to have enough capacity to serve customers at the hottest time as temperatures increase during the day,” Tucker explained. “As temperatures rise, so does the use of air conditioners. The air conditioners are staying on all the time. That creates a peak electric load for a Southern based utility company.”

Tucker said the temperature warms the already “hot” wires, which is when the stress to repaired or spliced line occurs.

The increased load on the line, combined with the temperature of the air, creates a peak on the hottest days of the year (anything more than 100 degrees), which this area will experience daily for several months.

Pop-up thunderstorms, increased usage of electricity and high temperatures created several power outages throughout the Arkansas River Valley on Thursday, keeping some Entergy personnel out until 3 in the morning.

“We had several outages Thursday starting about 3 p.m.,” Tucker said. “They were mainly north of Dover and Hector. Then that night we had more in London, Hector, Dardanelle and Russellville.”

Tucker said Thursday’s outages were mainly caused by lighting and strong winds that accompanied pop-up thunderstorms in the area. Two of the outages Thursday night involved downed lines.

Tucker said at all outages he and others scout the areas first to access the situation to determine which equipment will be needed. Even in instances where it is only a blown line switch, Tucker said the crew still scouts the power lines before re-energizing the line. He added that probably three-fourths of the time the lines are fine.

By law, linemen can only work 16 hours and then have to be off for eight hours before returning to work. Tucker said on Thursday some men worked in the afternoon, while others clocked off at 4:30 p.m. and didn’t get called out again until 7:30 p.m. and that all of the crew that worked late stayed home on Friday morning.

Tucker added one final note of advice for residents in areas affected by power outages. He asked everyone to give the workers space and stay clear of equipment and electrical lines.

“We have homeowners, particularly in the winter months, who want to be helpful and bring coffee or something,” Tucker said. “While that is really nice, we need people to remain safe and stay out of harm’s way.”